Improvement in propelling-apparatus



w i t i sented.

gtllliill gmt @anni l diffida.

CORNELIUsT. sMlTa-OF NYACK, NEW YORK.

,L'tters'Pateut No. 87,375, dated March 2, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROPELLING-APPARAT'U'S.

The Schedule referred to Si: these Letters' Patent and making part of the sama..

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, CORNELIUS T. SMITH, of Nyack, in the county of Rockland, State of N ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Machinery 'or YApparatus for Propelling Vessels, intended more particularly for use in propelling canalboats; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My'invention'consists in an arrangement of guards and adjustable frames, in connection with reiprocating parts, operated by cranks, and performing in the manner and withthe advantages hereinafter set forth.

I will proceed to describe my invention with the aid, of the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a side view of the mechanism applied to a canal-boat.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same.

Figure 3 'is a horizontal section of some ofthe parts on a larger scale.-

Figure 4 is a horizontal section of another modification, adapted for reversing.

Figure 5 is, a plan view of another modification.

'Figure 6 is a vertical section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the gures.v

'Iints are employed merely to aid in distinguishing parts; they do not indicate the materials.

The material of all the novel parts may be iron and steel.V They may be coated or' protected in any approved mannerfagainst oxidation.

A vis the body of the boat;

B is the shaft, turned by the engine 'in any approved manner; and B B? are cranks, placed quartering to each other.

Q are frames, extending rearward from the bearings of the shaft B, and adapted to be raised and lowered within the guides D.

Oare notched links, which are connected to the rearxend of the frame C, and\by means of which, in

connection with the pin d, the frame O may be elevated and lowered, and adi usted at different inclinations, and

retained there.

E E are smooth rod's, guided, as represented, on the inclined frames C (l, and adapted to slide cndwise thereon, and in line therewith, beingoperated by the cranks Bx B2, through the medium of the connectingrods b b2;

The rear and projecting ends of the rods E E carry folding floats or paddles F1 F2, hung on .the common 'cross-shaft or axis I, and supported in the yoke' E, as represented.'

Arms or stops, G1 G2, are fixed, as represented, on the rear of the rods E, and receive the force of thev floats F F2, when in their opened position:

A rod, H, extending .across each of the frames E1, in rear of and parallel to the shaft I, receives the arms f j", fixed on the paddles FZ, in the manner reprel tions, as represented. s

The revolutions of the shaft B cause the sliding bars E E to reciprocate backwards and forwards, at heights and in directions which are adjustable through the agency of the adjustment G. At each forward movemeut, the paddles F1 F2 close together, and at each backward movement they open and act upon the water, driving the water backward, and propelling the boat forward. The yokes El extend quite around in the rear of the folding paddles Fl F2, and serve to guard them from injury.

In case the surface of the water is encumbered with ice, oating timber, or other obstruction, the frames G O'and their connections are lowered, so that the pro- The importance of propelling canal-boats and other vessels by means of reciprocating and folding devices analogous to mine, has been long appreciated,and I am aware that many eiorts have been made to apply such in practice, but such have failedn to come into general use.

My invention, so far as already explained, is supe rior to any before knownto me, in the fact that the propellingdevices are protected from injury in case of striking the bottom or other object, the yoke E, in. each case, `encircling the propching-devices, and offering a round front, which is well adapted 'to slide over or under the obstacles.

Another point in which my invention is superior to any before known to me, lies in the means for hoisting and lowering the propelling-devices, and adjusting them to operate at diiferent elevations, at will.

vices of analogous character, it being not essential that this precise form of the device be adopted, so long as the adjustment is convenient and easy, and so long as liberty is allowed, as by -my adjustment, for the propelling-devices to rise higher, whenever required, in

consequence of the guards E striking the bottom, or

any other object.

It will be observed that in case my propelling-de` vices are adjusted to strike so low that the guards El paratus may yield upward, the notches in the links (ll being adapted to allow of this movement.

shall touch a rock or other hard object, the entire ap- Fig. 6 represents a provision for reversing the tion of my paddles, or, rather, for conning one set an@ bringing into play another, at will.

rllhe yoke E is enlarged, and there are two seg/S 0fA paddles precisely alike, and operated in opposite/ ire-C- M is a double fork, adapted to be moved longitudinally by means of the rodlm. When it is drawn in, into its ordinary position, the rearrnost paddles are allowed to act. When, on the contrary, it is moved out, it locks together the ordinary propellingpaddles, and allows another set to come into action, which act in an opposite direction. Thus by sliding the rod m by the hand or mechanism, (not represented,) the action of the propeller is reversed. y

Figs. 5 and 6 represent another plan for reversing. Here the yoke E is turned horizontally, and a single set of paddles isl made to operate, either to propel the boat forward or backward, as may be desired,l by reversing the posit-ion of the paddles themselves.

The shaft I is hung on a stout transverse shaft, N, which is provided with armsN N2 at right angles, which are operated by means of theA rods n n2, as shown.

In the ordinary position, as represented in fig. 5, the paddles propel the boat forward; but when, for any reason, it'is desired to reverse the action, the rods N N2 are operated by hand or suitable mechanism, so as to turn the shaft N a half revolution. When lthis is done, the paddles are brought into the reverse position and operated in the opposite direction, propelling the boat rearward.

The guard P, in this form of the device, serves to assure the operator when he has completely reversed the position/of the paddles. v

A chain and pulley may be employed, instead of rods, if preferred, working 'through'the centre of the pad dies. Y

Having now fully described my invention,

What I claim'as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. I claim, in combination, the linear reciprocatingthrust propeller, the guard-frame, raising and 1oweringguides, and means for adjusting to operate at different levels, ali constructed and arranged for joint-operation, as and for .the purposes herein set forth;

2. I claim the within-described specic construction of the linear reciprocating folding paddles F f and Fz f2, and their stops Gr1 G, and cross-bar or back-stop H, all arranged relatively to each other and to the frame C, and meansv for reciprocating the same backward and forward in line, as and for the purposes CORNELIUS T. SMITH.

herein set forth. 

